The following might be of interest to my friends on here....
My wife and I were at my son's last Sunday. he lives half way up a big hill, which is officially a mountain, but it really just a big hill with a terrific view out over Cheshire one way and N. Wales the other.
Anyway, he showed me 'his' mountain on Google earth and said.
"Watch this"
He zoomed in the screen and there in the dead bracken was a profile of an aircraft. Just sitting there. Now, I've walked that 'mountain' many times. It's a local country park really and only a mile or so long. Yet I'd never heard of, nor seen this aircraft. Neither had my son. I knew the rough area and the paths close by the site. It was strange I had never come across it. We promised each other we would do no research, so everything would be a complete surprise......
This morning in superb weather, the three of us set off from his place, via footpaths to find the 'wreck site'
This is what we eventually found.
At first we were a bit disappointed, thinking it was a bit of a practical joke. But no....
Someone had gone to the trouble of making a picnic bench cum aircraft. It didn't end there....
Even the prop. turns!
On the stabilizer, someone has even gone to the trouble of fixing a small, hand engraved memorial plaque. What an amazing thing to do.
My wife and eldest son.
Me and same son.
I did a bit of research this afternoon and discovered that during the enquiry it was revealed that the pilot didn't keep to the flight plan and flying too low, crashed the Harvard into the 'mountain' and was killed. He was the only occupant of the aircraft. The bench is set dead on the course the aircraft was taking when heading for Belfast...
There you go. All very sad, but the mystery is solved. And all because of an aircraft profile well spotted by my boy.
What a great morning I've had.
Cheers.
Ron
My wife and I were at my son's last Sunday. he lives half way up a big hill, which is officially a mountain, but it really just a big hill with a terrific view out over Cheshire one way and N. Wales the other.
Anyway, he showed me 'his' mountain on Google earth and said.
"Watch this"
He zoomed in the screen and there in the dead bracken was a profile of an aircraft. Just sitting there. Now, I've walked that 'mountain' many times. It's a local country park really and only a mile or so long. Yet I'd never heard of, nor seen this aircraft. Neither had my son. I knew the rough area and the paths close by the site. It was strange I had never come across it. We promised each other we would do no research, so everything would be a complete surprise......
This morning in superb weather, the three of us set off from his place, via footpaths to find the 'wreck site'
This is what we eventually found.
At first we were a bit disappointed, thinking it was a bit of a practical joke. But no....
Someone had gone to the trouble of making a picnic bench cum aircraft. It didn't end there....
Even the prop. turns!
On the stabilizer, someone has even gone to the trouble of fixing a small, hand engraved memorial plaque. What an amazing thing to do.
My wife and eldest son.
Me and same son.
I did a bit of research this afternoon and discovered that during the enquiry it was revealed that the pilot didn't keep to the flight plan and flying too low, crashed the Harvard into the 'mountain' and was killed. He was the only occupant of the aircraft. The bench is set dead on the course the aircraft was taking when heading for Belfast...
There you go. All very sad, but the mystery is solved. And all because of an aircraft profile well spotted by my boy.
What a great morning I've had.
Cheers.
Ron
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